Select from the following categories to learn more about specific types of volunteer opportunities:
- Camps
- International & Long-Term Service Learning
- Local Hospitals & Clinical Environments
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
- Volunteering in Tacoma
Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
- 7 Cups (online volunteer community for those in need of emotional support)
- All for Good: (search for volunteer opportunities (of any kind) in a specific geographic area)
- Amnesty International (research and expose human rights violations)
- Be My Eyes (app that connects sighted volunteers with those who have low vision or who are blind and need visual assistance with their tasks)
- Best Buddies (volunteering opportunity that connects volunteers with "E-buddies" who have developmental or intellectual disabilities)
- Big & Mini (focus is on ending the feeling of social isolation by connecting people from older and younger generations through phone or video calls)
- Brighten A Day: (virtually support, encourage, and provide joy to isolated senior citizens)
- Caring Calls (provides services supporting the elderly)
- Center for Suicide Awareness (virtual and in-person opportunities may be available dependent on location)
- Conversations to Remember (dedicate time to hourly chats with residents of assisted living or memory care facilities to reduce loneliness and feelings of isolation)
- Child Family Health International (global health remote volunteer opportunities)
- Crisis Text Line (requires 30 hours of training)
- Digital Smithsonian Museum Volunteers
- Free for the Frontline Tutors (provides free online tutoring support to children of frontline workers who have been personally impacted by COVID-19)
- IMAlive (focuses on suicide prevention and crisis management through chats and phone calls)
- Learning Ally ("brings books to life" for dyslexic, blind, and visually impaired students to help them succeed in school, and are currently recruiting volunteers to be "authentic voice narrators" in culturally-diverse stories. They are also currently looking for fluent Spanish-speakers to narrate Spanish language textbooks)
- Lifetime Connections Without Walls (helps seniors stay connected through classes and activities for older adults)
- Lutheran Community Services: Senior Friends (volunteer to support lonely/socially-isolated seniors in communities throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon)
- Missing Maps: (volunteers map small villages/rural populations that are missing from current maps used in relief efforts)
- NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness (provide virtual support for those navigating mental illness)
- National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- Operation Paws for Homes (virtual volunteers needed for screening dog adoption applications, time commitment is 1-2 hours/week)
- Paper Airplanes (provide online-tutoring for conflict affected individuals)
- RAINN: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (requires 30 hours of training)
- Reading Partners (help tutor young students in their reading comprehension and skills, remote & in-person opportunities)
- Rebuilding Together (helps neighbors stay in their homes)
- Save the Children
- Table Wisdom (teach others how to speak English more fluently)
- The Kids Circle Foundation (created to enrich the lives of kids who are going through struggles in their lives)
- The Steve Fund (crisis support for People of Color)
- The Trevor Project (crisis hotline that supports LGBTQ youth)
- Togean Conservation Foundation (focuses on the conservation of the Togean Islands of Indonesia)
- Trans Lifeline (crisis support for Transgender and Non-binary persons, virtual and in-person opportunities may be available)
- Translators Without Borders (for students fluent in multiple languages)
- UPchieve (online tutoring for disadvantaged students)
- Zooniverse (people-powered research program)
Local Hospitals and Clinical Environments
Local hospitals and other health-related organizations offer a variety of training programs and volunteer opportunities where you can serve in a clinical setting. Below is a sampling of locations where Puget Sound pre-health students and graduates have volunteered. For information about paid clinical experiences, visit the HPA Paid Clinical Experiences page.
- COPE Health Scholars: Includes Tacoma General Hospital (1.4 miles from campus) and Allenmore Hospital (1.5 miles from campus)
- Lahai Health: Low-income, comprehensive, primary-care clinic serving the greater Seattle area
- MultiCare: Includes Tacoma General Hospital (1.4 miles from campus), Allenmore Hospital (1.5 miles from campus), and Mary Bridge Children's Hospital (1.5 miles from campus)
- Tacoma Neighborhood Clinic: Supports those who are uninsured and under-insured in Tacoma (2 miles from campus)
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health: Includes St. Joseph Medical Center (2.1 miles from campus), St. Clare Hospital (7.6 miles from campus), and St. Francis Hospital (7.6 miles from campus)
Non-Profit Organizations
- Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (located in Seattle, WA)
- American Cancer Society (Cancer Resource Centers)
- American Heart Association
- American Red Cross
- Associated Ministries, Benefits Access Department (support essential services for people experiencing homelessness or financial difficulty in Tacoma, in-person experience)
- Bryant Neighborhood Center (provides medical/clinical, early childhood literacy, and food support to the Bryant community neighborhood)
- CASA Association of Washington (support an abused or neglected child through the process of getting into a safe home, 30+ hours of pre-service training required)
- Crystal Judson Family Justice Center (serves the needs of domestic violence victims and their children by providing comprehensive victim services in one, central, safe location in downtown Tacoma)
- HealthPoint (located throughout King County, HealthPoint is a community-based, community-supported, and community-governed network of non-profit health centers that includes volunteering)
- HopeSparks (serves children and families in Pierce County who face trauma, abuse and overwhelming life challenges)
- Easterseals Washington
- Feeding America (locate a local food pantry, soup kitchen or homeless shelter seeking volunteers)
- Food is Free Tacoma (dedicated to addressing food insecurity in Tacoma through a volunteer network of farms, gardens and involved neighbors)
- Frank Tobey Jones (retirement & assisted living home in Tacoma)
- L'Arche Tacoma Hope
- Medical Reserve Corps of Pierce County
- Mother Earth Farm (assist with harvest efforts at the Puyallup, WA farm location, which is then distributed to Pierce County food pantries and meal sites)
- Northwest Spay & Neuter Center
- Northwest Trek Wildlife Park (volunteers support wildlife education and wildlife conservation programs)
- Nourish Pierce County: Food Banks for Healthier Futures
- Pierce County AIDS Foundation
- Pierce County Humane Society
- Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (volunteers serve roles as a guest experience interpreter--educating zoo guests about animals and conservation, or a zoo greeter--welcoming guests, providing directions, and answering questions, in-person experience)
- Rainbow Housing Assistance Corporation (provides service-enriched housing programs for those in rental housing communities in Tacoma)
- Raising Girls (provides necessary hygiene products to girls in Western Washington, and partners with local organizations committed to serving youth)
- Refugee Resettlement Program (helps refugees secure homes and jobs, learn English, navigate educational and public systems, and build fulfilling connections)
- Tacoma Children's Museum, Greentrike (interactive, hands-on & play-based museum for young kids)
- Tacoma Community House (provides immigration support services, education & employment services, and victim advocacy support)
- Tacoma Pierce County Health Department (includes both volunteer & internship opportunities)
- Tacoma Rescue Mission
- Tahoma Audubon Society
- Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County
- United Way (explore local non-profits seeking volunteers)
- Wild Grief (facilitates peer groups for children and adults who are grieving a death by creating the space for sharing, connection, and healing in nature)
- YWCA Pierce County (provides assistance to survivors of domestic violence and their children)
Camps
- American Diabetes Association Camp Sealth
- Boston International Tuner Syndrome Summit (a summer experience for young people ages 12-19 with Turner Syndrome)
- Camp Crescent Moon (serving campers with Sickle Cell Disease, located in California)
- Camp Kesem (serving campers who are impacted by a parent or caregiver who has cancer)
- Camp Promise (serving campers with muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular diseases)
- Camp Side-By-Side
- Cleft Camp (serving campers with cleft lips and/or cleft palates, located in Colorado)
- Easterseals Camp Stand by Me
- Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp
- Directory of Retreats, Camps & Recreational Programs for people of all ages, and their loved ones, living with specific medical conditions
International and Long-Term Service Learning
For students looking for international and/or long-term service learning experiences, the following organizations may be of interest. Many of these organizations work in areas that have a great need for health care and other basic needs and welcome volunteers and teachers.
- AmeriCorps
- Child Family Health International
- Doctors Without Borders
- Global Service Corps
- International Medical Volunteers Association
- International Service Learning
- International Missions
- Peace Corps
- Teach for America
- Unite for Sight: Global Impact Corps
Volunteering in Tacoma
To find additional service-learning opportunities in Tacoma:
- Explore the UPS Community Works Padlet to identify local volunteer opportunities.
- Contact the Office of Civic Engagement & Leadership in Wheelock 203, by calling 253.879.2751 or visit the website.
